


The Tiger

by Shorina



Category: The Persuaders
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 10:31:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7099273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shorina/pseuds/Shorina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Brett is led into a maze by a beautiful girl and Danny learns there's a tiger in there, he forgets about his own date to come to his friend's rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tiger

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rosied](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosied/gifts).



**_Lagio Maggiore, two months earlier_ **

“You must come see us at my father's castle if you're in the region, Brett.” Sophia, a beautiful young German travelling with her cousin, Greta, put a hand on his arm and beamed up at him.

“We most certainly will, won't we, Daniel?”

Danny, his arm around the waist of the other girl, Greta, enthusiastically agreed. “Oh, sure we will. Try keeping us away.”

Greta looked at him, puzzlement written across her face. “Why we do that, Danny? You invited.”

“No, you got that wrong, honey. I was just agreeing with Brett that we will definitely visit.” He'd been running into problems like this for the last two days. While Sophia, aside from her German accent, was fluent in English, Greta's linguistic skills were much more basic. And in contrast to his friend, Danny didn't understand more than 'guten Tag' in German.

 

**_Present day, at a castle somewhere in southern Germany_ **

The gardens of the castle were impressive and impeccably tended. There even was a hedge maze and Danny couldn't tell what was beyond that. Though the terrace they were sitting on was on a higher level than the garden, the height of the hedges meant it blocked the sight to anything lying further back on the estate.

“You like Garten?” Greta, who had noticed his dwindling attention, asked. 

Garten? Garden, that was close enough for Danny to guess the meaning. “It's impressive.” Not a word she understood, her expression told him. “Very pretty. Just like you.” He winked at her flirtatiously and that she understood. Greta giggled, something she often did. 

Not far from them, Brett and Sophia were involved in an animated conversation. Danny envied him a little for having gotten the girl with the better language skills, especially as Brett, with his knowledge of German, would have had a much easier time talking to Greta. But aside from the language barrier, Greta was more his type than Sophia and though her giggling might suggest so, she wasn't shy, either.

“Let's go for a walk in the garden, Brett,” Sophia suggested. Now that message easily got through to Danny. Only Brett. A one-on-one. Lucky fellow.

“My pleasure.” Brett stood and offered Sophia his arm. “If you'll excuse us, Greta, Daniel.”

“Yeah, off you go. Have fun! But don't do anything I wouldn't do.” Danny watched them stride down the steps to the garden, then turned back to Greta.

“So, where were we interrupted?”

“Here?” Greta asked, obviously once again not getting the gist of Danny's words.

“Oh yeah, right here.” Danny ignored the misunderstanding and reached for Greta's arm and pretended to study the bracelet she wore, then let his gaze wander higher up until it met hers. He leaned forward and when she didn't flinch, kissed her.

She didn't flinch at all, instead she wrapped her arms around his neck. Heck, who needs conversation when you can snog?

When they separated for air, Greta started giggling again.

“Ooh, Brett.”

Danny looked at her as if she'd totally gone out of her mind. “Ho,honey, it's Danny.” He'd thought that much at least was clear.

“No, Brett, there.” She pointed past him and Danny twisted around to look. “Going to the … Irrgarten.”

Yes, Danny just saw him vanish into the maze, presumably led by Sophia. So what?

Greta had stopped giggling. With an earnest expression she continued speaking in her halting English. “Sophia lead man in there for reason. Is … Raubkatze in there.”

She had lost Danny. “Sorry, what's in there? What's Raupkahze?”

Greta thought for a moment, trying to come up with a word Danny would understand. “Raubkatze – is Tiger?”

“Teegah?”

Greta mimicked an angry cat, clawing the air with her hand. “Tiger? Is big … cat!”

Now it clicked for Danny. A tiger! His eyes went wide in alarm. “Wait – are you saying there's a tiger in there?” He'd seen all sorts of animal heads as trophies on the walls inside the castle so he wouldn't rule out the notion of some madman keeping a tiger in his garden. Why Sophia would lead his friend into such peril, he didn't know, but apparently she just had.

“Ja, tiger,” Greta confirmed, happy to have gotten the point across.

Danny looked at her for a moment longer, puzzled by the happiness in her voice, then jumped up and rushed down the stairs toward the maze.

“Danny?” Greta shouted after him in confusion. “Danny, where you go?”

“The maze! Brett's in there with a goddamn tiger! I need to do something!” Though he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He had no weapon. Weapon, yes, he needed a weapon. Frantically he looked around and found a rake leaning against the hedge. How remiss of the gardener, but lucky for him. At least it was long, good for keeping something at more than arm's length.

“Brett!” He shouted as he entered the maze. “Brett, where are you?”

_“Daniel?”_ His friend sounded far away. He had to be quite some way into the maze already.

“Brett!” Daniel stopped at the first crossing, trying to make out the direction Brett's voice had come from. He turned left, then right, then right again – and found himself at a dead end. “Brett!” He called again.

_“Daniel, what's wrong?”_ Brett sounded distant and Danny couldn't quite make out his words.

“Brett, which way did you go?” He retraced his steps and took a different turn. “Brett!”

 

Deeper inside the maze, Brett stood arm in arm with Sophia, both straining their ears to make out Danny's words. 

“Do you think something bad happened?” Sophia asked.

“He probably only needs me to translate something to Greta.” He tried to keep the mood light. Up until Danny had started shouting his name, it had been a very pleasant walk.

“Ja, Greta's English isn't very good I'm afraid.”

“But yours is,” Brett complimented her.

_“Brett!”_ Danny again. His friend sounded alarmed, he thought. Had something happened after all?

“Daniel, what's wrong?” He called back and tried to gauge where his friend might be.

_“Brett, which day whit your foe?”_

Which day whit your foe? That made no sense. The only word he was sure of was “Brett!”.

“Daniel? I can't hear you very well,” he called back.

 

Daniel had made progress further into the maze when it struck him that the tiger might be lurking just beyond the next corner. He gripped the rake tightly in both hands and approached the next corner, then carefully peeked around it. Clear. Another turn and he faced another crossing. “Brett!” he called again. He had taken too many turns to be sure which direction he needed to go.

_“Danny?”_ That sounded closer, he was catching up.

“Stay where you are! I'm on my way!” He ignored the paths leading left and right and went forward. Hopefully their shouting didn't alarm the tiger.

_“Danny?”_ A different voice, coming from somewhere to his left. Greta? 

“Stay out of the maze, Greta. Go inside the house!” The last thing he needed was someone else to worry about. Worrying about Brett was enough.

 

“That was Greta,” Sophia said. “Why is she calling for Danny?”

“I have no idea,” Brett said. He was starting to get worried now. Daniel had to be closer for Brett had understood enough of his words to make sense of them. Daniel was looking for him and he wanted Greta to stay away. Understanding the words didn't mean understanding their meaning or reason, though. “Maybe I should look for him.”

“He said to wait.”

“But I know which way we came, he doesn't.”

“Then let us go together. I know this labyrinth in and out.”

“Good point.”

Brett started retracing his steps with Sophia following on his heals.

“Danny? I'm on my way!”

 

No, no, no. That was all wrong. “Brett! Stay where you are! It's dangerous!”

Danny approached another turn, stopped, held the rake out into the path and, when nothing happened, turned the corner. No tiger.

_“Danny? I'm coming back!”_

Brett was definitely closer, but now his voice came from somewhere behind Danny. He turned back. “Brett! Just stand still, will ya!” How was he supposed to rescue his friend if he couldn't find him? All he had to go on was Brett's voice.

At the last crossing he had passed, he now turned into one of the side-paths that led off in the direction he thought Brett's voice had come from. “Brett!” Dammit, why didn't he answer?

_“Danny? We know the way, just wait for us!”_

Yes, but do you know there's a tiger in here and that the girl led you into danger? “No, you wait!”

 

“Why does he have to be so stubborn?!” Brett's question wasn't aimed at Sophia and if it had been, she couldn't have answered it. “I'm not going to stand around here doing nothing if Danny needs help,” he declared. After five steps, he stopped again. “Which way do you think, Sophia?”

“I think he's that way,” she replied pointing to the path turning off to the right.

Brett immediately started walking off in that direction.

“But that's a dead end,” she quickly continued. “We need to take the next right.”

 

Danny stopped dead in his tracks. He had heard something. His heart began to beat even faster than it had already been doing. He strained his ears but all he heard was – silence. He crept forward to the next crossing and stopped before stepping into it. He listened. Faint voices. Where were they coming from? Damn, they had fallen silent. Again he tested for danger with the rake, then hurried on. “Brett?” This time he didn't shout quite so loud. If it was the tiger he had heard before, he didn't want to alert the beast to his position.

 

“Did you hear that?” Sophia had picked up on Danny's not-quite-whisper of Brett's name. Automatically she was speaking in a more hushed voice herself.

“Yes.” Brett adjusted his voice without giving it a conscious thought. “Where did it come from?”

“There, I believe. Follow me.”

She led him around another corner and then straight across the next intersection.

As they approached the next corner, the tip of a rake came into view. Brett frowned, then reached for the shaft and pulled. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but it had not been Danny tumbling into view, holding on to the other end of the shaft.

“Daniel!”

Danny quickly regained his footing. He dropped the rake and first clutched Brett by his shoulders, then pulled the surprised Lord into a bear hug. “You're alright!”

“I'm glad we've established that,” Brett said, amusement now swinging in his voice as he disentangled himself from Danny, pushing him back by his own shoulders. “Why wouldn't I be?”

That reminded Danny he had dropped his weapon and he quickly reached for the rake again.

“Because of the tiger.”

“Tiger?!” Brett looked to Sophia who stood by with equal amounts of amusement and confusion on her face. Finding no explanation there, he turned back to Danny. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“Why don't you ask her?” Danny pointed the rake at Sophia.

“Why don't you tell me?” Brett suggested, pushing the rake down.

“Because she leads men into this dangerous maze.”

“It's not big enough to get lost in here, Daniel.”

“No, no, no. You don't understand. There's a tiger in here!”

“We've already been there. Why on earth do you think there's a tiger in here?” Once again Brett glanced at Sophia, who had stopped being amused and now only seemed puzzled. 

“There's no tiger here. What gave you that idea, Danny?” She walked up to Brett as if seeking protection in case she was wrong and one had escaped somewhere.

Now it was Danny's turn to look confused. “But – Greta said there's a tiger in here.”

As if on cue, Greta approached from behind Danny, having followed him into the labyrinth. “She tiger,” Greta tried to explain, pointing at Sophia.

Danny whirled around to look at the newcomer, then turned back to see who she was pointing at.

A quick exchange in German between the girls followed and Sophia started to laugh.

“Oh, I'm sorry, Danny. It's all a misunderstanding because Greta didn't know the right words.” She sheepishly smiled up at Brett. “She meant to say I can be like a wild cat in this labyrinth when I'm with an attractive man.”

Danny wasn't sure whether to feel embarrassed or relieved.

 

**_After sunset on the road to Munich_ **

“So, Daniel. You came to rescue me from a tiger with a rake?”

They had enjoyed another couple of hours with the girls, but Danny had insisted on turning down the girls' invitation to stay the night. He had had enough misunderstandings for one day. That Brett had to bring it up again now annoyed him, but he tried not to show it. “Pretty brave, huh?”

“Extremely so. And stupid.”

“You'd rather I'd let you die?”

“I'd rather you'd gone back into the house and gotten one of the guns we passed on our way out onto the terrace. Preferably also picked up some ammunition for it.”

“Best write me a checklist I can consult next time I think you're in mortal danger.”

“You wouldn't read it if I did.”

“Hell no I wouldn't.”

They stayed silent for the next kilometre. 

“Danny?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. Even though I was in no actual danger, I appreciate that you were willing to risk your life for me.”

Danny glanced at Brett, who hadn't taken his eyes off the road. Smart thing to do in the dark. But in the lights of an oncoming car he could still make out the expression on his friend's face. Brett actually seemed – touched.

“You're welcome.”


End file.
